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ROUNDUP: Martina's 200m appeal turned down by CAS

Lausanne, Switzerland - Churandy Martina of the Dutch Antilles on Friday lost an appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to be reinstated as Beijing Olympics 200 metres silver medallist.

The CAS cited rules by the governing body IAAF that decisions by a race jury of appeal are final and can not be fought.

Martina had originally finished second in the Beijing race in August won by Usain Bolt of Jamaica, with American Wallace Spearmon placing third.

The race jury disqualified Spearmon for a lane violation. The US team then successfully protested against Martina for the same reason - with Americans Shawn Crawford and Walter Dix moving from fourth to silver and fifth to bronze, respectively.

Martina and his Olympic committee filed an appeal before CAS against the IAAF and US Olympic Committee, saying that the US protest came after an IAAF time limit.

But the CAS said: "In dismissing the appeal, the arbitrator noted that the procedures governing protests and appeals are set out in IAAF Rule CR 146 and that the same rule states that the decisions taken by the Jury of Appeal shall be final, and that there shall be no further right of appeal, including to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

"Furthermore, the arbitrator did not find any circumstances in this matter which could give grounds, such as an application of the rule in bad faith, to review a 'field of play' decision."

The disqualification of Martina had caused outrage in the tiny Caribbean island nation at the time.

"It is not in the spirit of the Olympics," said Dutch Antilles sports minister Omayra Leeflang. "It is a pity for a big country like the US to make such a small statement."

The 2004 Olympic 200m champion Crawford gave his silver medal to Martina after the Olympics. (dpa)